Chapter 643 - 349: Advancing to Tier 7

Su Chen took a deep breath, holding it as he focused his mind. With his physical fortitude, he could hold on at first, but as time passed, the circulation speed grew faster and faster.

The surging Elemental Power filled the entire training room, accompanied by constant RUMBLES and CRACKLES. Even with the room’s reinforced structure, it was faintly failing to contain the energy. The floor and walls took on a crimson hue, marred by scorch marks blasted by arcs of lightning.

Lightning and Flame Fire, almost condensed into a liquid state, shuttled back and forth through his body. Combined with the twisting impacts of his Spiritual Power, blood faintly seeped from his pores.

He began Enhancing Secret Artifacts. The resulting buffs instantly suppressed the faint, stinging pain in his body, making it incomparably stable. It was like a giant ship, tossed about by a violent storm at sea, suddenly receiving an incredibly solid ballast stone at its bottom.

Su Chen’s brow twitched as the development progress on his status panel climbed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then, at a certain moment—

[Burning Thunder Rampaging Body Refining Technique upgraded to Master Level. Obtained ability: Rampaging Bone Golden Body - Slightly increases Physical Strength and defense intensity.]

[Thunder Fire Heart-Forging Meditation Technique upgraded to Master Level. Obtained ability: Heart Thunder - Slightly increases elemental control and total Spiritual Power capacity.]

Both the Body Refining Technique and Meditation Technique reached the Master Level simultaneously, each giving birth to an Enhanced Ability.

A moment later, the surging Elemental Power around him abruptly stopped before retracting into his body like a receding tide, instantly producing a sense of overwhelming fullness. Immediately after, Su Chen felt something welling up from his stomach. Opening his mouth, he exhaled a wisp of indigo mist that rapidly dissipated into the air.

"This is the residual medicinal efficacy of the Celestial Star Potion. There isn’t much left," he remarked. Meanwhile, the development progress for the Thunder Ash World Master had already reached 100%.

"This Potion is seriously insane," Su Chen said, smacking his lips. "In other words, as long as my body can withstand it, that’s a flat 15% development progress. It’s even more powerful than I imagined."

He secretly clicked his tongue in wonder, his gaze drifting across the status panel. The professional requirements for the Scorching Thunder Priest were by no means few. Under normal circumstances, preparing for it would take quite some time.

However, since he possessed Thunder Fury, Su Chen did not hesitate to use it directly—

[Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator has sensed your will. A thick bolt of lightning strikes the Scorching Thunder Priest; his body shudders, and he instantly loses all consciousness.]

In an instant, the Scorching Thunder Priest, which originally had four professional requirements, entered an upgradable state. With everything fully prepared, the promotion would take place right now.

With a mere thought from Su Chen, a terrifying aura, several times more blistering than before, rippled out from his body. Immediately after—BOOM!

A muffled clap of thunder exploded in the space above his head. Lightning wrapped and danced around Su Chen’s body as endless waves of crimson flame erupted from within him, cocooning him entirely.

Intense pain spread to every corner of his body. His chest heaved. It felt as if a furnace was burning among his internal organs. His flesh and blood were kneaded like clay by an invisible giant hand, while his muscles and bones were stretched out and solidified.

He was undergoing a comprehensive, fundamental metamorphosis. Su Chen had long anticipated the agony of this Main Professional Tier promotion; he furrowed his brows and clenched his teeth tightly.

During this transformative process, he could not activate any Professional Ability and could only endure it forcefully. It wasn’t until a long time later that the boiling torrent of Energy around him gradually subsided.

[Successfully promoted to Scorching Thunder Priest!]

[Secret Artifact Master Enhanced — Control Secret Artifacts +1]

[Reflected Venerable Enhanced!]

[Venerable Lord Enhanced!]

[Newly born Professional Ability shares similar affinities with Secret Technique Master and Spiritual Power. Merging...]

[Merge successful. Obtained ability: Spirit Sacrifice - Open the grand sacrificial altar to significantly enhance your own abilities.]

Su Chen let out a long sigh of relief. Feeling the vigorous, pulsing Life Force and strength gradually rising within his body, he knew the most violent part of the metamorphosis was over.

However, because of his Main Professional Tier promotion, his Holy Profession was simultaneously undergoing enhancement and continuously remodeling his body. The process was not particularly intense. Faint CRACKLES continuously rang out, bringing a tingly, numbing sensation.

He thought, "It will probably take a while longer to completely finish.

"Tier Seven!" Su Chen’s chest expanded. The promotion in his Main Professional Tier brought a change in his Life Level. His lifespan, strength, and Physical Strength had all undergone massive transformations, naturally affecting his state of mind and putting him in an excellent mood.

The abilities that needed enhancing were enhanced. As for the new ability, it was somewhat surprising, combining Spiritual Power and Secret Technique Master with the profession’s inherent abilities.

He pondered to himself, "This should be equivalent to trading more time and a higher cost for a greater magnitude of amplification. I wonder if it can elevate a regular ability to par with a normal Holy Profession.

"I can also add another Secret Artifact and upgrade the rest to Tier Seven. Once this Fire-igniting Ash has recovered enough, I can try checking out what other good things are hidden in the room atop that tower."

Su Chen quietly felt the changes in his body, his brows furrowing slightly. "However, there are still a few things I need to figure out. Qin Yun will be returning soon, carrying that wisp of Spiritual essence. Will my identity as an acknowledged individual be exposed...?"

Several days later, in the Floating Island’s reception room, Luo Shuhang and Zhong Chengyu stood up and said, "If there is nothing else, sir, we will take our leave."

Su Chen seemed to be pondering something. Hearing this, he nodded. "Mhm. Thank you for your trouble this time."

"You’re too polite. It was merely our duty," the two said in unison. As their voices trailed off, a flash of surprise crossed both their eyes, and they covertly exchanged a glance.

"I’ll see you out," Su Chen said, standing up.

"Please stay, there’s no need," they said in unison once again.

Even Su Chen was a little surprised. Luo Shuhang and Zhong Chengyu looked at each other. For some unknown reason, they suddenly found the other’s face rather detestable.

They naturally had some understanding of Su Chen’s personality. Despite waving their hands in refusal, he still escorted them all the way to the port.

Only after watching the two leave did Su Chen turn back. His face visibly relaxed. He had asked them quite a few questions during this meeting. The most crucial question among them was under what circumstances an individual acknowledged by the Spiritual essence would have their acknowledged status exposed.

He thought, "According to Luo Shuhang, only Professionals who have obtained equivalent acknowledgment qualifications can telepathically sense each other upon meeting."

For example, two Professionals who received one-dragon acknowledgment would sense each other. However, if they met someone with a two-dragon or three-dragon acknowledgment, there would be no reaction whatsoever.

Luo Shuhang had explained that being acknowledged was a qualification for competition. By nature, those with a low-level acknowledgment were unqualified to compete against those with a High-level acknowledgment, so naturally, no mutual sensing would occur. However, those with higher acknowledgment qualifications could sense those with lower acknowledgment levels. The hierarchy was strict, and the tiers were distinctly divided.

Su Chen pondered silently, "Unless I run into another guy who has obtained three-dragon acknowledgment, I won’t be exposed. Under normal circumstances, I should be safe."

He had been quite worried about this before. Once Qin Yun returned carrying the hosted Spiritual essence, she would definitely seek out the acknowledged individuals. Although the Spirit of Sun had extremely high standards, there was still a Twin Divine Dawns participant in the current Peak Star Conference. Given that this person was meticulously cultivated, they would probably secure a one-dragon acknowledgment.

Only after confirming that the other party would not be able to detect him even if they were acknowledged did Su Chen finally set his mind at ease.

He reasoned, "To obtain a three-dragon acknowledgment, one would need to be like me—having two Holy Professions as a foundation at Tier Six, or perhaps possessing a True Radiance tier Talent. There shouldn’t be anyone like that in the short term."

The only other potential risk to him was that wisp of the Spirit of Sun’s Spiritual essence hosted within Qin Yun. If the two of them met, or if Qin Yun suddenly reacted within a certain range and rooted him out directly, he would be doomed.

He hadn’t been able to ask too directly just now, but he had managed to beat around the bush and probe Luo Shuhang for answers. According to Luo Shuhang, the acknowledgment anomaly would only appear once. Take the Ancient King Stele, for example. The anomalous phenomena would only manifest the very first time someone was recognized by the Ancient King Stele. After that, no matter how many times one passed by it again, it would not yield any further reaction.

Using the Ancient King Stele as an example, Su Chen understood immediately.

He thought, "That wisp of hosted Spiritual essence is searching for new acknowledgment targets. It likely won’t have any reaction to me. After all, being acknowledged is not the same as being chosen. There’s a massive difference between the two.

"The only variable is that Residual Spirit... and that’s exactly what I have no way of figuring out."

After calculating his odds for a while, Su Chen turned his attention back to the status panel.

He had called Luo Shuhang over not only for questions regarding the Spiritual essence but also to have him provide some professional references. Meanwhile, Zhong Chengyu’s purpose was to retrieve the professions. He had arranged for the two of them to work together—Luo Shuhang would speak, and Zhong Chengyu would retrieve the data.